New Jersey Toxic Substances Expert Named As CPSC Health Sciences Chief

WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 4) -- The appointment of Dr. Peter W. Preuss as the new top official within the CPSC for Health Sciences was announced today by CPSC Chairman Susan King. Dr. Preuss will hold the title of Deputy Associate Executive Director for Health Sciences.

Dr. Preuss, 38, has been the director of the Toxic Substances Program for the New Jersey State Department of Environmental Protection since June 1, 1976. As a special assistant to the Commissioner of that agency since October 1, 1974, he also coordinated other departmental programs related to the health effects of environmental pollutants. For the past 12 months Dr. Preuss has served as chairman of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator's toxic substances advisory committee.

Dr. Preuss brings to CPSC a solid background in the field of toxic substances and their effects on health and the environment at a time in which the Office of Health Sciences has been assuming expanded responsibilities. He is expected to play a major role in carrying forward CPSC's invigorated efforts to protect consumers from carcinogens and other chronic hazards. The Office has a staff of about 40 health experts and technicians, as well as laboratory facilities in the Washington area.

For the three years prior to his work in New Jersey, Dr. Preuss worked in Israel where he served as deputy director and senior scientist for that nation's Environmental Protection Service in Jerusalem. Since 1968, Dr. Preuss had worked as a research scientist in the field of organic chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where he also was a post-doctoral fellow funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Preuss attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn and Brooklyn College where he received a B.A. in chemistry and mathematics in 1963. He performed his graduate work at Columbia University in New York City, being awarded a doctorate in biology and biochemistry in late 1967. Dr. Preuss is a member of the National Society of Sigma Xi, the New York Academy of Sciences, the Society of Occupational and Environmental Health, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Society of Toxicology. He has published, prepared and edited numerous scientific publications.

Among the federal grants for which Dr. Preuss was project director in New Jersey was an EPA grant in 1977 to investigate "The Use and Emission of Selected Carcinogens in New Jersey." A second EPA grant in 1977 covered "The Relationship between Cancer Mortality and Population Exposure to Environmental Factors." His office recently was L awarded a grant of $450,000 under the state demonstration grant section of the Toxic Substances Control Act to establish an environmental investigation unit; this unit will work to resolve environmental problems affecting human health and to determine the presence of carcinogens in the atmosphere of New Jersey.

Dr. Preuss, currently a resident of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, is married to the former Ruth Rosenthal; the Preusses have three children: Don, 16, Gil, 14, and Ilana, 6 years.